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Monthly Archives: May 2012

The Charfen Institute is offering a Certified Distressed Property Designation course to provide agents the perfect tools, processes and education to help distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure. Due to a high demand for property education courses, North and South Carolina local area REALTOR® Associations will offer industry-leading Real Estate Short Sale courses.

The North Carolina Association of REALTORS® and Greensboro Regional REALTORS® Association will meet June 14 and 15 in Greensboro, N.C.. If you are in the Cary, area, the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® will meet August and August 2. In addition, the Coastal Carolina Association of REALTORS® will meet in Myrte Beach, S.C. on August 7 and August 8.

This is an excellent opportunity for local real estate professionals to learn how to help homeowners facing financial hardships, while also earning their Certified Distressed Property Expert® (CDPE) Designation. Agents with this certification better understand homeowners’ circumstances and can better navigate foreclosure alternatives.

Since 2008, unemployment, underemployment figures and mortgage delinquency have been at a record high. Recent estimates show that more than one in five homeowners nationwide owe more on their home than it is currently worth.

According to a CNNMoney report, Greenville was the ninth fastest growing city in the U.S. with a 32.5 percent growth between 2000 and 2010.

According to the report, Greenville has become an “international powerhouse” for companies globally. Greenville, once known for textile manufacturing, is now grouped with Spartanburg, Anderson and other towns as “The Upstate,” the northwestern region of South Carolina.

Because of the increasing job opportunities, real estate builders are expected to meet the growing population.

With over 250 international firms, including BMW (Germany), Michelin (France), GlaxoSmithKline (United Kingdom) and Kyocera (Japan), Greenville is becoming the manufacturing hub where people come from all over the world to buy, sell and study the manufacturing industry.

“That’s the highest international investment per capita in the nation,” said Nancy Whitworth, Greenville’s Director of Economic Development.

Eight out of the 10 fastest growing cities are in Southern states. Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson’s total population is approximately one million.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, who recently released data concerning construction permits issued by localities in 2011, Raleigh, N.C. was the third top city with the most construction activity with 13.66 construction permits per 1000 housing units.

Why is multi-family building becoming more and more popular? According to the Trulia Rent Monitor, rents rose 5.6 percent nationally in 2011. Construction of multifamily buildings has increased because people could not necessarily afford to purchase or own a home during the recession. Therefore, more and more families are transforming their homes to become more multigenerational friendly.

While Texas and the Carolinas hold the position for the highest rate of construction in metro areas, New England, the Great Lakes, South Florida and Coastal California hold the lowest rate.

There are many factors that explain the sporadic growth in housing developments. One factor is whether there is long term employment growth in the area. Another factor is that many of the metros have had above-average job growth within the past ten years, and that there weren’t any huge home price declines during the crash.

For the U.S., one-third of construction permits in 2011 were for multi-family units, making builder trends change to meet the demand of multifamily construction.

Why does the builder market look more and more like a seesaw, up and down? First, construction activity is bet on future growth. It is a risky guess for builders to decide where to develop in areas where they are expecting a demand for housing. Also, housing units last for a long time, so they inevitably shape the metro areas they are in.

If you’re looking to buy or rent in the Raleigh area, make sure you visit our site for all of the latest North Carolina real estate news.

Raleigh recently found itself ranking seventh in New Geography‘s annual survey of the best places for jobs. This marks the seventh year in a row that Raleigh ranked within the top 15 cities.

Raleigh is one of the cities that benefits from the nationwide tech growth trend. Other cities benefiting from technology are Austin, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Denver. Other major contributing factors for many cities’ rankings include the energy sector, government-dependence, military towns, manufacturing and the housing bubble. Additionally, for the first time since the recession, 2011 saw more growth in private sector employment than in the public sector.

The list is created by ranking all 398 current metropolitan statistical areas based on employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from November 200 to January 2012. These rankings are calculated based on recent growth trends, mid-term growth, long-term growth and the region’s momentum. The rankings are also broken down by size since regional economies differently due to their scale.

An increasing number of jobs and Raleigh’s ranking on this list will only serve to boost home sales in this region. For more information on North Carolina real estate, visit our site.

Equifax has many resources for homeowners facing foreclosure, which can help avoid nasty scams

Mortgage foreclosure scams are up to nearly 60 percent this year and are still growing, according to the Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), an independent national nonprofit which rescues homeowners from

foreclosures. However, not every program out there is a scam waiting to happen. Ilyce Glink, real estate expert for Equifax, shares a list of helpful, legitimate government programs designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure in her post, ”

HARP– The Home Affordable Refinance Program is intended for underwater mortgage homeowners who wish to refinance their home based on the current value and who are current on their payments.

HAMP– The Home Affordable Modification Program is designed for employed homeowners who are struggling to meet their mortgage payments. For eligibility, your mortgage payment must be more than 31 percent of monthly gross (pre-tax) income, and you must be a delinquent or in danger of falling behind mortgage payments.

UP- Apply for the Home Affordable Unemployment Program if you are unemployed. This will reduce your mortgage payments to 31 percent of you income or suspend them for 12 months.

PRA- Designed to help homeowners who do not own their loan, MHA’s Principal Reduction Alternative is for owners whose homes are worth less than what they’re paying for.

The Making Home Affordable programs are just one set of programs designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. For more information on your credit, home insurance and